Name: Mac
Location: Seattle, WA
I Identify as…Trans Queer
What does Pride mean to you?
Pride is the opposite of shame. I was raised in the Bible Belt in the South, where there was a tremendous amount of shame taught around sexuality and simply being a sexual human being. For me, Pride is about shedding that shame and reclaiming the right to fully exist as who we are.
Much of my life’s work has been helping others who were raised in similar dogma let go of shame around their sexuality, identity, and humanity. Pride is joy, authenticity, freedom, and the courage to be seen.
How do you identify, and how do you see yourself within the LGBTQIA+ community?
I identify as trans masculine, bisexual, and queer. Today, I see myself as a community elder and leader, someone who has lived through many seasons of struggle, growth, healing, and transformation.
I believe part of my role now is to help create safer spaces for others, especially younger generations, so they can live more freely and authentically than many of us were allowed to when we were growing up.
When did you first attend a Pride event? Can you share that experience?
I didn’t attend my first Pride event until my late 30s in Florida at Disney World. It was honestly life-changing.
For the first time, I experienced what it felt like to be surrounded by community, people who understood one another, celebrated one another, and created space for joy and belonging. After growing up feeling isolated and different, it was incredibly emotional and healing to finally feel connected.
How do you feel when you attend LGBTQIA+ events like Pride?
I love being in community with all the letters of the queer alphabet and our amazing allies. There is something deeply powerful about gathering together in support of one another.
Pride reminds me that none of us is alone. It strengthens us when we come together, especially during difficult times in the world. There is joy, resilience, creativity, love, and collective strength in our community.
What is the importance to you that Pride represents?
Pride represents visibility, liberation, survival, and chosen family. It reminds us that we deserve to exist openly and without shame.
For many people, especially those who grew up in hostile environments, Pride may be the first place they truly feel accepted. That matters deeply. Representation and community save lives.
What is the importance to you that Pride represents?
Pride represents visibility, liberation, survival, and chosen family. It reminds us that we deserve to exist openly and without shame.
For many people, especially those who grew up in hostile environments, Pride may be the first place they truly feel accepted. That matters deeply. Representation and community save lives.
What can we do as a community to bring us together more and make us stronger?
One of the biggest things we can do is move away from cancel culture and toward calling one another in instead of calling one another out. We need to create more space for healing, education, accountability, and growth, rather than immediately turning on each other when someone makes a mistake or still has growth to do.
We also need to continue to embrace every letter in our alphabet soup and honor our allies. Our diversity is part of our strength.
How do you see our community transforming in the next 5 to 10 years?
I hope more people within our community and around the world truly come to understand that we are all connected. When we help one another heal, grow, and succeed, it strengthens the entire community.
I believe younger generations are already helping create a more expansive understanding of identity, gender, sexuality, and belonging. My hope is that we continue moving toward deeper compassion, mutual care, and collective liberation.
What comments do you have for the other letters of our community (L)(G)(B)(T)(Q)(I)(A)(+)?
We need each other. Every part of our community matters. None of us is free unless all of us are free.
I encourage us to keep showing up for one another, listening to one another, protecting one another, and celebrating one another. Our differences are not weaknesses; they are part of what makes this community so beautiful and resilient.
Any comments that you want people to hear regarding Pride and our community?
We are living through difficult and uncertain times right now, and it’s important that we truly watch out for one another and genuinely care for one another.
Take those moments of joy whenever you can, joy in who you are, joy in your friendships, joy in your loved ones, joy in simply being alive and authentic. Those moments of joy help sustain us and give us the energy to continue working toward a better world tomorrow and the next day after that.
Pride is not just a celebration – it is survival, resistance, healing, and love.
